Sowdens Plumbers Merchants
Business & Trade Services, Business of the Week, Fuel & heating
Alan Sowden moved to Otley when he was just four years old, his family hailing from as far away as Horsforth! That was back in 1958, and the founder of Sowdens Plumbers Merchants is still not entirely sure whether that qualifies him as a true Otlensian.
We know better.
Alan started the long-established, family-run plumbing and heating business in 1979, initially concentrating mainly on installing central-heating systems and bathrooms. Then, in 2004, when an existing plumbers’ merchant closed, he spotted a gap and decided to fill it, opening his own merchants in Candleworks Yard, tucked away just off Station Road.
Fast forward a couple of decades and Sowdens is now a proper family affair, with the business comprising Alan himself, his youngest son Phillip, Phillip’s wife Kathryn, who runs the shop and office, and grandson Jack.
There’s a rather lovely record of the family’s long relationship with the premises too: a homemade height chart in the shop where Alan’s children and grandchildren have chalked up their heights over the years.
Sowdens’ relationship with its customers has proved every bit as enduring. In fact, the business hasn’t needed to advertise its plumbing services since 1983 — fairly compelling evidence that, even in a world of Google ads and social media, a good old-fashioned recommendation still takes some beating.
Alan’s decades of plumbing experience also mean he can usually get to the heart of a customer’s problem pretty quickly. “Tell me what you want to achieve, and I’ll tell you what you need to do it,” is a phrase regularly heard across the counter.
And his commitment to the business, its customers and the wider town stretches far beyond fitting U-bends and supplying plumbing parts.
Alan served as president of the now-closed Otley Chamber of Trade in 2014, was one of the original BID Champions when Otley BID was first being proposed, and today continues to play his part as an Otley BID director.
So, after almost seven decades in the town and more than 45 years serving its homes and businesses, we reckon the verdict is in: Alan might have been born elsewhere, but by now Otley can safely claim him as one of its own.
- Listing ID: 1616